Afghan presidential rivals at last reach unity deal after disputed vote
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Version 0 of 1. KABUL — The rival candidates in Afghanistan’s messy election for a new president finally struck a power-sharing deal Saturday, aides said, after more than two months of tension over a vote in which each side accused the other of fraud. The crisis has further destabilized Afghanistan just as the U.S.-led military coalition prepares to withdraw most foreign troops at the end in the year, leaving Afghan forces to fight the Taliban insurgency. Teams from both sides had met late into the night with United Nations representatives to try to finalize a power-sharing deal before Sunday’s scheduled announcement of the final election results after a U.N.-monitored audit and recount. The last sticking point was how to announce the results of the audit. Aides and officials have said candidate Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, had insisted that the official percentages either not be made public at all or be altered to give him more votes. Abdullah is widely believed to be trailing his rival, ex-Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, in the final tally. It was unclear late Saturday how the dispute over results was eventually resolved, but all sides in the talks said the deal was done. “Both camps have agreed 100 percent on everything and we’ll sign the deal tomorrow. Everything has been initialed and there is no disagreement on anything,” said Faizullah Zaki, a spokesman for Ghani. Mujib Rahimi, spokesman for Abdullah, also confirmed a deal had finally been struck but did not give any details. Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, said the deal would be formally signed Sunday in a ceremony with Karzai. “They have agreed on the announcement [of results] as well,” Faizi said in a text message. Preliminary figures released in July put Ghani, a longtime World Bank official, ahead with 56 percent of the vote, prompting street protests from supporters of Abdullah, who alleged massive fraud and said he was the rightful winner. — Reuters |